Mozart once wrote in a letter to his father that the organ was the queen of all instruments. The organ pipe corals, although named after the pipe organ, possess no royal status; in fact, they are almost like wallflowers among the corals.

Initially, the worm was thought to obtain a permanent shelter from predation at a minor expense to the coral. However, experimental work has shown that the cost to the coral is minimal and that the worms can provide two quite significant benefits to the coral: First, the top of the calcareous operculum is secreted in the form of multiple sharp rays.